In a setback for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a federal judge upheld a $3 million verdict in a closely watched trial that involved a highly contentious issue — whether consumers can successfully sue a brand-name drug maker if they suffered harm after taking a pill made by a generic rival.
The verdict was issued last spring in a lawsuit that was brought by Wendy Dolin, the widow of an attorney who committed suicide after taking a generic version of Glaxo’s Paxil antidepressant. The federal court jury decided the drug maker failed to properly warn about the risk of its medicine. On Monday, a Glaxo spokeswoman wrote us that the company plans to appeal the decision.
As we noted at the time, the lawsuit targeted Glaxo, because federal regulations do not allow generic companies to independently change product labeling after learning of potential risks, unless such a change has already been made to the corresponding brand-name drug. The regulation was upheld six years ago in a controversial ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Not all generic Pharma companies are the same. Teva and Mylan are 2 good ones. You have to have a biologic equivalence but that may not be the same level of efficacy as the original drug. I know that from using generic Prozac.